Senses of Love
by xfmoon
Summary: Oneshot. Jane learns to trust his senses when it comes to Lisbon.


**A/N: **This is only my second fic, so please R&R, I welcome constructive criticism.

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned The Mentalist, unfortunately I'm not that lucky, I own nothing.

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><p>The senses are important to all living creatures, but to Patrick Jane they were essential. His tricks and mind games depended on his keen observational skills and his sleight of hand. It was imperative for him to see and hear things others didn't.<p>

That's why, when he started losing his touch, so to speak, that he became a little worried. He thought he might have either started going crazy or his "special powers" were disappearing, neither of which were very likely. Even the team had noticed he was of his game lately, and that worried him even more.

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><p>Some days he felt that he had a sixth sense that was trying to tell him something. It took him a little longer than usual, but when he recognized what was going on, he was frightened. Frightened by the possibilities of what this might entail, frightened both for him and for the people this could eventually effect. One thing was for sure though, he had to deal with this sooner or later, because his sense of self seemed to be slipping away from him, like ocean sand seeps trough wet fingers. Both his body and his mind were telling him he had to do something in order to save his own sanity.<p>

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><p>Love was a very powerful emotion, that almost had a will of it's own. It was not unbreakable, if you tried to bend it this way or that, you might end up either winding it down or crushing it altogether. It had to be treated with respect, like you would any other living thing. It was an organism, that would grow and thrive if treated correctly, or die in agony if it's life source got cut short.<p>

In this particular case it had started out as a seed, that had grown even in the harsh environment that had been Jane's heart. It had stayed hidden, like a well kept secret, under the leaves from yesteryears mighty oaks and the ever changeable weathers of the seasons. But it had survived despite of everything, a little miracle in and of itself. Once it had broken free of the mounds of leaves and come through the cracked ice, it had blossomed with the most beautiful flowers you could ever imagine.

This was when Jane started carefully coming out of his cocoon. It was a different world on the other side, it felt like a bit of a whirlwind at times. It was as if his senses went into overdrive when he was in her presence. Everywhere her scent, her voice, her touch would linger, and seeing her made his heart leap. When he thought about her he recalled the sweet smell of cinnamon, the sound of her approaching footsteps, the way she playfully would hit his arm when they bantered and he misbehaved.

She was the first person he saw in the morning and the last one he saw at night. She worked way too long hours, something he never really had given any notice before, but suddenly her welfare was something that occupied his mind.

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><p>When he realised he needed her in his life all bets were of. He knew he cared about her, but was it enough? Love meant the possibility of heartache, and he wasn't sure his heart could bear it.<p>

After moulding it over for a good long while, while constantly on a day to day basis observing their interactions in acute details so he later could analyse them when he was alone with his thoughts and his demons, he decided to take a chance. He was a betting man after all, and you couldn't live your life on 'what ifs', they would eventually suck the fun out of living.

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><p>There was no such thing as the perfect day, time or place, so when he decided to take the plunch, he sat down and picked a specific date, so that he wasn't going to chicken out, it had to be not too far away but also not too close.<p>

The day arrived. He had had a plan, but they had gotten a call - people always seemed to get murdered on the most inconvenient of times - so the plan had been cleverly revised and filed away to be used on another occasion.

Lisbon and Jane had ended up on the other side of town, interviewing a suspect and the team had been running around trying to gather evidence, from God only knows where. It had been a long day and at the end of it everyone were totally beat. When everyone else had left, Jane had offered to take Lisbon home, and she had been too tired to refuse, which only worked to Jane's advantage.

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><p>The ride had been fairly quiet, the radio had played it's soft jazz tones, while Lisbon had stubbornly trying to stay awake only to be slowly dozing off on the car seat next to him, her body taking control over her senses and giving her the much needed rest it craved.<p>

When they arrived at her apartment complex, Lisbon was fast asleep. Jane turned off the cars ignition and sat for a few moments just gazing at the peacefully sleeping senior agent in his car. He almost felt bad about waking her, but he had to, it was now or never. He gently tucked a stray strand of dark hair behind her left ear, letting his hand travel the length of it down to her shoulder, where it momentarily lingered, before he cautiously shook her awake.

While Lisbon got herself together, Jane stepped out of the car and walked to the other side of it, then being all gentlemenish he opened her car door to let her out. He then walked her to her front door, which at this point Lisbon was awake enough to find kind of strange, because when he on occasion would drive her home he would normally just stop the car and let her out, and then just drive away.

They had reached the door Jane standing slightly behind her, when she decided to turn around so she could ask him what was going on. Halfway trough however he had caught her shoulders, and in a split second brought them closer together. He leaned down, looking straight into her tired emerald eyes that shone with surprise, his hands finding their ways up to her face and neck, and closing the distance, he kissed her.

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><p>In that moment all his sensory impressions of her melted together with her traits and personality and intermingled with his own whole being, and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, he felt completely connected to another human being. A few seconds went by before he felt her relax in his embrace and respond to the physical contact.<p>

The kiss might have only lasted a few minutes, but in that time they both felt like they were the only two people on Earth. Nothing else mattered, and all their worries and insecurities vanished like dew in the sun. Had he known he would feel this liberated from the pain of his past, he might have acted on his feelings beforehand. But not even that seemed to matter in that particular moment. The time was now, and the present was all he cared about.

He was known to be a patient man, and in the end that had paid off, 'cause all had happened in do time after all. His senses had been right from the beginning, choosing to trust them was the best decision he had ever made. Right now they were all tingling. They had, for a very long time, been used for absorbing every bit of her. Seeing her the way only he could, hearing her voice when no one else did, taking in the smell of her intricate person, even the light touches from time to time. The only sense he hadn't been able to utilize before now, was taste. But now as he stood in front of her apartment door, caressing her cheek with his hand, he realised he did have a sixth sense, the sense of love, and he had found that right here, in the taste of that first kiss.

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><p><strong>AN:** Hope you enjoyed it, even if it did get a little cheesy in the end. Reviews are very much appreciated :)


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